Censorship as a barrier to trade

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Some technology blogs are reporting that there has been a proposal in the European Parliament to consider internet censorship as a trade barrier. Under this proposed legislation countries who use extensive censorship (“the great firewall of China”) would be required to discuss their internet/information policies in any trade negotiations. As Ars Technica points out, imposing trade restrictions and economic sanctions is a common strategy to get governments to change their policies – in this case, the policies that need changing relate to the internet and the freedom of information.